Senators pass six open-government measures,

Bills, sent back to House, boost public access to records.

Moving to revive six open-government bills stalled in a Texas House committee, the Senate on Thursday grafted versions of all six bills onto related legislation and sent it back to the House.

The amendments — three from bills by Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, and three from bills by Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi — resurrected legislation that has been bottled up in the House Government Transparency and Operation Committee, where Chairman Gary Elkins, R-Houston, has called some of the open-government bills flawed or in need of com- promise language because of business opposition.

All six were ad d ed as amendments to House Bill 2328, which was designed to streamline requests for public information from state and local governments. The much heftier bill was approved 30-1, with Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, opposed.

“This is a big, important bill, and I am really proud of the Senate for taking a very strong stand for open government,” Watson said after the vote, which had been delayed from Tuesday so a Senate committee could examine the three House bills Thursday morning.

The amended HB 2328 will return to the House, where its author, Rep. Eddie Lucio III, D-Brownsville, can ask House members to approve the changes or seek a con- ference committee to work out a compromise.

The new legislation includes three Watson bills, previously approved by the Senate, that seek to undo or limit Texas Supreme Court rulings that:

Exempted nonprofits that receive public money from the state’s open-records laws.

Allowed companies to block the release of govern- ment contracts and other information that could give competitors an advantage.

Enhanced government’s ability to protect information under attorney-client privilege. Watson hopes to ensure that the ruling cannot be extended to information beyond attorney-client privilege.

Two of the Hunter bills would require the release of information stored on private devices owned by government officials and employ- ees and would make birth dates a public record except for members of law enforcement, if contained in per- sonnel files or voting rolls.

The third Hunter bill would require governments to respond to open-records requests even if they do not have any available information.

The bill also would end the practice of raising generic exemptions to public disclosure by requiring governments to specify claimed exemptions.

Watson said the new bill “closes significant holes that were blown in the Public Information Act.”

“The public needs to have access to this information,” he said.